Layoffs pick up as the national economy stalls, but good news for local horse owners

 * ... ECONOMY: There's more bad news for the economy. The Wall Street Journal reports that the anticipated second half recovery is not happening, and in fact more firms are now laying off records number of workers. Companies as large as Cisco and Lockheed Martin Corp. and as small as Cracker Barrel Country Store have announced more layoffs as firms respond to sagging sales and uncertainty over the debt crisis. "Behind the cuts are jittery employers whose faith in the recovery - and by extension consumers' willingness to spend - has been shaken," it said. "Companies are maintaining profit margins by cutting jobs and costs, and, for the moment at least, are investing in efficiency-enhancing equipment rather than new workers."

 * ... EQUINE VIRUS: Good news for horse owners. It looks like the danger of contagion for the equine herpes virus has passed and it's now safe to transport horses to shows and other competition. That's the word from John Tolley, a veterinarian at Bakersfield Veterinary Hospital. He praised the local horse community for keeping their horses and home and eliminating contact with other equines during the past few months.

 * ... CHARITIES: Teri Goree is one of those people who are growing weary of being constantly hit up for $1 donations at grocery and department stores. "It is especially annoying when the automated machine asks for a donation, I click 'no,' and the clerk asks me again!" she said. "I've been told they are required to ask every customer, but some clerks are just over the top zealous about it and make me feel like the lowest of the low for politely declining to participate." Like others, Teri said she and her husband already have their favorite charitable causes that align to their personal values. "One of these days maybe my response will be, 'Sure, I'll donate a dollar to your charity if you'll donate a dollar to mine!"

 * ... SPOTTED: Ruben Rosales, one of the owner of Happy Jacks, and grandson Kadel Hock from the Napa Valley were seen cleaning the riverbank of trash from Oak Street to the 99 Freeway. Kadel asked his grandfather why anyone would leave so much trash at a public park. Now that's a good question.

 * .... PLASTIC SURGERY: Would it surprise you to know that men comprise one of the fastest grow areas in plastic surgery and cosmetic enhancements? On Friday on Californian radio SmartTalk 1230 I will interview Dr. Milan Shah and Dr. Brett Lehockey from Dr. Shah and Associates to talk about trends and popular procedures in Bakersfield. You might be surprised by what you learn. The show runs from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

 * ... BLAZE: This Friday night is YMCA night at the Bakersfield Blaze game. Tickets purchased at the Kern County Y are half off and can be purchased at 5880 District Boulevard for $7. "Our cheer leading squad with our theater arts kids will lead the crowd in the YMCA song before the game," said Clete Harper, CEO of the local Y.
 
 * ... DID YOU KNOW?  Did you that graffiti artist “Chaka,” who gained notoriety tagging walls in Los Angeles, is now helping troubled youth in Bakersfield by teaching them to channel their pain and frustration into positive art projects and community involvement? His commissioned murals can be seen in East Bakersfield.

Musing over the death of Bianca Jackson and worrying about our state's jobless rate

 * ... SHOOTING: The shooting death of 18-year-old Bianca Jackson on the campus of Cal State Bakersfield is tragic beyond words, and it certainly raises a lot of questions about how, and why, it happened. Bianca was not a student at CSUB and neither are the two suspects in the shooting. And why was there a late night party at the campus anyway? One answer is that - unlike the larger public universities - CSUB is largely a commuter school. There are only a handful of dormitories and the area surrounding the campus - Seven Oaks, Haggin Oaks, Stockdale Estates - are not conducive to student rentals. In addition, there are no fraternity or sorority houses so parties like the Young Black Stars end up on campus, which at least to me is odd. One thing is for sure: if CSUB is going to continue to allow late night partying on campus, it better beef up its security.

 * ... FAREWELL: Stopped by the home of Wendy Wayne and Gene Tackett the other day to say goodbye to Jan Bans, the ATT marketing specialist who is being transferred to Oregon for a six-month stint. She'll be living in Portland and dealing with statewide issues and spending a lot of time in Salem. Among the big crowd to wish her well were Beth Pandol of the Bakersfield Museum of Art, City Councilwoman and Memorial Hospital's Sue Benham, Les Clark of the Independent Petroleum Association, Don Martin of the Metro Galleries, Jeff Green of Grimmway Farms,  Superior Court Judge Lorna Brumfield and attorney husband Bob, Sheri Horn Bunk of the Taft College Foundation, Donna Hylton of the Kern Adult Literacy Council, Diego Wilkinson of KBAK TV,  Lois Henry of The Californian, local arborist Dana Karcher and Robin Noble, owner of The Noble Plan home delivered meal business.

 * ... SPOOK: It's amazing how quickly our weather turns from early to late October. Local attorney George Martin, famous for the Bakersfield Business Conference, must have consulted the Farmer's Almanac by always hosting the conference in early October, taking advantage of the wonderful fall weather. Folks at the Kern Wheelmen bicycle club should take a hint from George. The Wheelmen held its annual Spooktacular bicycle ride this weekend and once again the riders were met with freezing rain and horrible conditions while riding over Breckenridge Mountain and Lion's Trail. At least three riders tumbled on the descent but luckily were only scraped up. This is a wonderful event but it perplexes me why they don't just host it a few weeks earlier in October.


 * ... JOBLESS: Our once Golden State comes out a bit tarnished in the latest unemployment figures. California now has the third highest jobless rate among all states, following only Nevada and Michigan. We come in at 12.4 percent while locally here in Kern County, we're hovering around 15 percent. The lowest jobless rate in the country is in North Dakota at 3.7 percent.

 * ... NEW OFFICE: Local attorney Robert Brumfield III is leaving the firm of Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann and Girard to strike out on his own. His new offices will be located at 1601 F Street. Brumfield, who is married to Superior Court Judge Lorna Brumfield, specializes in business law and is a long-time litigator. A native of New Orleans, he grew up in Roanoke, VA., earned his B.A. degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and his law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

 * ... SPOTTED: Posted on the door of Coconut Joe's restaurant: "Conveniently located in the once-thriving heart of Bakersfield."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: From Ken Barnes: "You know you're from Oildale if you remember where Mud Lake was."

Bakersfield comes up dead last in a quality of life survey, Emily Falke says farewell and more recollections of old time Bako

 * ... MUSEUM FAREWELL: Had a chance to stop by the Bakersfield Museum of Art this week to attend the send-off for Emily Falke, the long-time curator heading to Santa Barbara to become director of education and exhibits at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. Emily said she had already moved into a small house in Santa Barbara and was looking forward to the new challenges, but would miss her friends here. Among those attending the farewell were many former and present members of the museum board, as well as artists, including Melissa Fortune, Melissa Grayhek, Art Sherwyn, Susan Hersberger, Beth Brookhart Pandol, Napier Hill, Joe and Mimi Audelo and of course museum executive director Bernie Herman.

 * ... LIFESTYLE RATINGS: Earlier this week The Californian reported that Kern County has the 15th weakest economy in the state, and now comes some more sobering news. According to Portfolio.com, Bakersfield ranks dead last on a list of "quality of life" in the nation's 67 largest markets based on factors like education, income, unemployment and home ownership. (read the entire report here) For example, we rank last among major markets in terms of adults with advanced degrees (4.6 percent) as well as those with a bachelor's degree (14.3 percent). Our  poverty rate of 16.6 percent was also worst in the survey and our average household income of $46,400 was fifth from last. There is no doubt that these figures come as no surprise, given our reliance on migratory workers for farming and the fact that California has a higher percentage of new immigrants who tend to be poorer and lesser educated. And the statistics certainly don't factor in things like civic pride and goodwill and the willingness of people to pitch in for the common good. So while the statistics don't lie, at the end of the day it's just another survey that only tells part of the story.

 * ... IN AFRICA: UCLA student and Highland High graduate Stephanie Hammons is in South Africa for a month volunteering with Youth with a Mission (WYAM) and Ten Thousand Homes. The groups assists local orphanages, schools and villages and also helps with food distributions in South Africa. She apparently also got to take in the World Cup soccer match between Australia and Serbia.

 * ...  REMEMBERING OLD BAKERSFIELD: Retired school superintendent Al Sandrini wrote to correct another reader's recollection of the old Coachlight Inn. He said the Coachlight Inn was never on Stockdale Highway. "The Coachlight Inn was always located just north of 34th and Union Avenue... The building on the corner of Stockdale Highway was Ewing's Stockdale Inn. This was the same owner who owned the Tam 'O Shanter. This building was moved to the corner of Oak and California Avenue ... near the Santa Fe Railroad's roundhouse.... The original Coachlight Inn was eventually torn down when the north side of 34th Street was completely overhauled. Besides the Coachlight, there was a Kenny Shoe Store, a gas station and some office buildings. These were replaced by a Burger King, Los Hermanos and Matia's Basque Restaurant, owned and operated by Frank Matia before he moved to Rosedale. Oh by the way, I hate the term Bako."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: A couple of offerings from correspondent Riley Parker: "You know you're a Bakersfield old timer if you had late night burgers at 'The Jumbo,' and your childhood mailing address was 'Kern Canyon Star Route, Box A.'"

A local connection to the Oscars, more kids come home to roost and others are off to college

 * ... OSCAR CONNECTION: How many of you knew there was a strong Bakersfield connection to the Academy Awards? That's the word from Dennis Thelen, a partner at the LeBeau-Thelen law firm, who told me one of the winners of the "Best Original Song" Oscar used to call Bakersfield home. The song is titled "The Weary Kind"and is from the movie "Crazy Heart" featuring Best Actor winner Jeff Bridges. Ryan Bingham and T. Bone Burnette shared the Oscar for the song, and it turns out Bingham lived here for eight years before his family moved back to Texas and New Mexico. "Some will remember him as a very talented AYSO soccer player and Southwest Little League baseball player before he got interested in the guitar," Thelen said. Thanks for sharing, Dennis.

 * ... ANOTHER COMES HOME: I enjoyed a nice email exchange with reader Marie Parks who wanted to share the story of her son Jim Parks, yet another local product who went to college out of town, worked elsewhere but chose to return to our community. Jim graduated in 1989 from North High School, was an All Area varsity basketball player and a member of the National Honor Society. He graduated from Long Beach State (CSU Long Beach), worked in San Diego, married but decided to come back  home. His wife, Melanie, is from Tehachapi and the couple just had their first child, a daughter named Mahaila. By the way, father Jim Parks coached at CSUB in the 1980s and this week will be inducted into the California Community College Coaches Association Men's Basketball Hall of Fame. As Marie said: "I am proud of both of my boys!"

 * ... COLLEGE BOUND: Reader Lisa Bell let me know that her daughter, Allison Bell, a senior at Centennial High School, is headed for Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, this summer. Also, local Wells Fargo commercial banking vice president Michael Congdon (and his wife Lanette) report that daughter Lacey, also a Centennial senior, will be attending Baylor University. Congratulations to both these young women being accepted to these outstanding schools.

  * ... GET WELL EDDIE: I heard that local businessman Eddie Paine suffered a mild heart attack earlier this week. Eddie checked himself into Mercy Southwest Hospital after experiencing what seemed like indigestion and promptly received a heart stent. He's doing well and under doctor's orders to lighten up on the stress. Always easier said than done. Eddie is a longtime Bakersfield resident and his wife Maria is head of human resources over at Jim Burke Ford. Daughter Rachel is at Stanford University. Get well,  Eddie. 

 * ... THE BUZZ: It was disheartening to hear that our unemployment rate had jumped to 17.1 percent, a pretty clear signal that this long recession is far from over. There is no better barometer about the health of our economy than the number of folks out of work, and the release of this new number was like a dagger to the  heart. Once you factor in those who are considered under-employed or have simply stopped looking for work, our jobless rate is well north of 20 percent. Think about that: one in every five people in Kern County is either out of work or earning too little to make ends meet.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISMS: You know you're from Bakersfield when "One of your friends owns a house on a spot where you had field parties in high school.

More kids decide to call Bakersfield home, the obesity epidemic and the museum puts the spotlight on homelessness and despair

 * ... FROM NIAGARA TO BAKO: I received a nice email from Michele Magyar, who added her son Zak Brown to the growing list of local kids who went off to college and chose to return to Bakersfield. Zak graduated from Garces Memorial, went to Bakersfield College for two years and then transferred to Niagara University on a partial swimming scholarship. Niagara, a Division 1 school, is 15 minutes outside of Niagara Falls and 30 minutes from Buffalo, N.Y.  His mother added: "He was fortunate enough to have Greg Gallion (CEO Houchin Blood Bank) as a business mentor and did an internship in the marketing department of Kern Schools Federal Credit Union the summer before he graduated from college."  Zak is now the Senior Marketing Officer/Insurance Specialist for the credit union at the administrative offices on Ming Avenue.

 * ...  ONE COMES HOME TO TEACH: I also heard from Jenell Mahoney who told me proudly about her daughter, Amanda (Mahoney) Isaac, who graduated from Centennial High in 1998, went on to Chico State and is now teaching elementary and middle school vocal music for the Norris School District. Her other daughter Megan is now married and living in Perth, Australia, but is hoping to move to back to Bakersfield with husband Ben next year. As Jenell says, "then we'll have another bird back in the nest!"


 * ... HOW FAT ARE WE? Read with interest the Californian story this week showing just how out of shape Kern County school children are compared to state averages. Only 24 percent of fifth graders and 31 percent of seventh graders passed all six areas of a state physical fitness test that is less than demanding. This is our collective shame as we pump our children full of fast food and set them up for a lifetime of disabilities, obesity and Type 2 diabetes. The obesity epidemic is alive and well locally, thanks in part to fast food that is priced more cheaply than nutritious foods and parents who don't do enough to instill good eating habits in their children. Surely we can all do better than this.


* ... ANOTHER FIRST FRIDAY: It's time for another "First Friday" in the downtown arts district. Don Martin, owner of Metro Galleries and one of the guiding forces behind the revival of the arts downtown, told me this Friday will  kick off a "Concert in the Alley." Each month a different band or solo performer will stage a concert in the Wall Street Alley. This Friday, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., will feature Joel Jacobs and his band. (Bakotopia magazine is one of the concert sponsors) In addition, Metro Galleries will be kicking off Abstract Impressions, contemporary paintings by New Orleans artist Karoon, local artist Johnny Ramos and modern pottery by Dan Slayton. There will be live music, hors d'oeuvres and a no host wine bar by the new Enso Japanese Restaurant. Of course Metro Galleries is just part of the downtown scene. There will also be live music at Dagny's, a wine tasting and appetizers at Little White Dress, art on the streets and horse drawn carriage rides.

 * ... HOBOS TO STREET PEOPLE: Given the economic funk and record unemployment we are all living with, could there be a better time for an art exhibit on homelessness, loss and isolation? That's the theme of a show coming to the Bakersfield Museum of Art that appears - at least in my view - as one of the most promising exhibits ever at the museum. It's called "Hobos to Street People" (click here for the full lineup) and it features photographs by Felix Adamo, paintings by Pat Berger, sculptures by Joe Brubaker and art by James C. McMillan. This is really powerful stuff and I urge you all to consider taking in all five of these exhibits. The show will run from Dec. 10 to Feb. 21, 2010, and will feature the works of 30 artists "working over the last 75 years to document the tragedy of homelessness."

Bruce Maclin out at San Joaquin Bank, jobless figures higher than expected

* ... SHAKEUP AT SAN JOAQUIN: Big news over at San Joaquin Bank where longtime chairman Bruce Maclin is out in questionable circumstances. It's being positioned as a retirement but Maclin is out, replaced as chairman by board member Rogers Brandon, co-owner of American General Media and a member of the board since 2000. This is a significant development that no doubt will be viewed favorably by potential investors, who are being asked to pony up significant money to keep the bank afloat and to get federal regulators off the bank's back. Maclin's role was seen by many as redundant since bank President Bart Hill is the real public face of the bank and has been in charge of the daily operations. His departure will not only save the bank significant money (his salary, canceled retirement package etc)  but also put a fresh face and new urgency behind the bank's quest to recapitalize. Brandon, Hill,  and newly appointed chief operating officer Steve Annis have been busy raising capital to satisfy federal and state demands that the bank raise at least $27 million by mid October.. Maclin's departure and his decision to surrender  his lucrative retirement package - the packages for Hill and Annis were surrendered earlier - together adds $6.5 million in additional capital. For the full story according to the bank's press released, read it here. Stay tuned for more.

 * ... MORE BAD NEWS ON THE JOB FRONT: Frightening to read in the Sunday New York Times that the jobless picture is actually worse than previously thought. Turns out new figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that during the 12 months that ended last March, our economy lost 5.6 million jobs. That's  fully 824,000 more than the 4.8 million they previously reported. (read the full story here) And get this: they said it's not cleaer if the economy has even hit bottom yet in terms of employment, even though technically the recession may be over. Here's a sobering excerpt:

 "The government’s data since 1939 shows only one time when there was a larger percentage decline in civilian jobs. That fall, of 10.1 percent, came at the end of World War II when defense contractors laid off workers no longer needed for the war effort — a total of 4.3 million lost jobs. In no downturn since World War II did that many jobs vanish, until the current recession."

 * ... ANOTHER HONOR FOR WENDY:  Was nice to see another honor for Wendy Wayne, the community activist and all around good egg who has been battling non-Hodgins lymphoma. She was honored as "Humanitarian of the Year" by The Plank Foundation. Wendy received the award on Monday following the foundation's annual golf tournament at Bakersfield Country Club.


 

Kern Jobless rate hits 13.8 percent (ouch!)

This one hurts. Kern County's unemployment rate hit 13.8 percent in January. That's up from 11.8 percent in December, and it's a full four percentage points above what it was last year this time, at 9.8 percent. Now it's true that our "seasonal" unemployment rate hovers around 9 percent because of migratory labor, but 13.8 percent is a staggering number no matter how you view it. By comparison: the jobless rate in California is 10.6 percent and 8.5 percent nationally. Anecdotally, saw my friend Jeff Simpson today - he's the owner of Sequoia Sandwich shop - and he told me that for every opening for a server, he is being inundated with resumes from people with college degrees and others used to making $20 or $25 an hour. Rough out there.